Anyone have a surefire/reliable way to prep financially for an April 2017 Springer-Harper’s Ferry AT hike for a college student? I make $10.50/hr and work 40 hrs, so I get around $370/wk. I am not good at budgeting so any help would be great, even if it’s just a simple., “set aside $__ a week.”
Crow Call
Set aside 37.50 a week for the next year and hike cheap.
The absolute minimum amount of money it takes for me to stay on the AT is 75 bucks a week. So I need 300 a month for 6 months or 1,800 dollars. That pays for grocery store food. That’s a high percentage of mac and cheese and noodles. There is quite a bit of food already out on the trail. You will need to be tuned in to the loop when it comes to trail magic hiker feeds etc. You also need to know the location of and take advantage of every hiker box you come to. Hiker boxes are a major source of my food on the trail. It’s like Forrest Gumps mamma say’s, life is like a box of chocolates, never know what you are gonna get. There are quite a few small towns along the AT, every time I hit one I look at the bulletin board in the grocery store, library etc for any kind of feed that is going on at churches or clubs etc on the day you are there, the note might say “pancake breakfast at the church” all you can eat 5 bucks, 8-10am. I will show up at 9:45 and say something like. “I will tell you honestly that I’m an poor under funded thru hiker and I don’t have much money”. People want to be kind. A couple of golden rules if you hike like this. Don’t be a Yogi and sponge off other hikers. Be willing to eat what you find in those Hiker Boxes. Don’t be shy, Practice “Leave no Trace”, when you find trail magic. Go with the flow, stay in the middle of the bubble. Start North the last week of March. All you need is a tent and sleeping bag in any sort of garage sale pack, the rest of that stuff will be left for you along the trail in shelters and hiker boxes.
Francis